


A New Stretch

by jayofmo



Category: DCU, Elongated Man - Fandom, The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-14
Updated: 2016-05-14
Packaged: 2018-06-08 06:47:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,597
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6843565
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jayofmo/pseuds/jayofmo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>I want "The Flash" to bring Ralph Dibny in so bad, I wrote a fic that shows how he could be introduced.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A New Stretch

"Ralph, get out of bed!" yelled Mr. Dibny.  
  
Ralph Dibny pushed his way off the bed. He sat up on the edge of his bed, head lowered, running his left hand through his ruddy hair. Just, what was the point of even getting up?  
  
The lanky young Mr. Dibny had always lived in the shadow of his older brother Ken, the football quarterback. What could Ralph do? Well, he was double-jointed. That was something. Not much. And yeah, he actually got accepted into the college of his choice because of his knowledge. Ken was the brawn, Ralph was the brains. But brains didn't mean much to anyone in Waymore. Seriously, he still had to go to community college because dear old mom and dad had thought that money would be better suited for other things. Like to save for Ralph's first house or something. Ralph had asked them why not a better education so he could get a great job and pay for a house on his own, but it was just ignored.  
  
Central City had been Ralph's last ditch. Not what he'd wanted, of course, but perhaps working with Dr. Harrison Welles would open up some fields for him. Do some interning at STAR Labs, go to Central City's best college with tuition nearly paid. And things were going good until it basically blew up in his face.  
  
Okay, not basically, literally.  
  
That famous particle accelerator event had left Ralph missing, and instead of a search for him being launched? He was automatically presumed dead. When he finally did get found after a few months in a homeless shelter with no money and just the clothes on his back, his enrollment had been cancelled. He'd asked to call home, but the arrangement was that the staff would call for you, and his parents would protest that he was dead and hang up. Finally, he realized he should call someone else: Sue.  
  
If there was one thing that had ever gone right for Ralph, it was Sue Dearbon. The dark-haired debutante who had far more to her than just a pretty face. Ralph had never seen her as less than equal to his intellect. Put together, they made a good team. Ralph always joked how they'd get away from Waymore together, get married, travel the country, solve mysteries. He had them call her, the next day, he was on a bus back to Nebraska.  
  
So, now Ralph had to get up and look for work while he waited for the next semester at college to start. And nope, not back to Central City. Waymore Community College.  
  
"Come on!" yelled Ralph's dad. "Jobs don't just fall from trees!"  
  
Well, time to get started with the day. Such as it was.  
  


———

"So, what do you remember from your time in Central City?" Sue asked as Ralph went through the listings. "Well, not everything, I mean after the particle accelerator malfunction."  
  
"Not much... I felt pretty funny when I finally pulled myself to the shelter." Ralph looked through the listings. Maybe fast food wouldn't be that bad. "Why are you so curious about it? You asked me about it yesterday as well."  
  
"Anyone can see that after that particle accelerator, the Flash and all these fascinating metahumans popped up," Sue explained. "And you were interning at STAR Labs, seriously, you don't remember if it might have affected you in some way?"  
  
Ralph shook his head. "STAR Labs wasn't even all it was cracked up to be. I thought I'd get to work with Harrison Wells. I got to see him in his chair for like, five minutes, and bam, he was gone, off to work with that Cisco kid."  
  
"Were you there that night?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"And your memory's a blank from then to about when you finally called me?"  
  
"Yes. Come on, I'm almost done with this application. Find me another one."  
  
"I'm just wondering and I think we need to do the tests again!"  
  
Ralph rolled his eyes. "Gingold? All it did was taste awful and make Ken violently ill when he tried it."  
  
"I told you not to put it in a Gatorade bottle. But what if it affects you differently now that you were there in Central City?"  
  
Ralph looked at her in annoyance. "Why would it?"  
  
Sue sighed. "I did more research. Apparently, a high percent of the population is allergic to the gingo fruit, which Gingold is made from. People who aren't are often those amazing contortionists with hyper flexibility."  
  
"And you think maybe the particle accelerator upped me from double jointed to hyper flexibility?"  
  
"Well, it's a possibility. Let's assume it made the Flash. It enhanced something someone could do. What if in your case, you just need some stimulant?"  
  
"Okay... Let me guess. You got some?"  
  
Sue pulled a vial from her purse. "Yeah."  
  
Ralph grabbed the vial, popped it open and downed the contents. "Happy now?"  
  
Sue rolled her eyes. "Okay, genius, try to do something."  
  
Ralph folded his fingers back. "Ooooh, look! I can bend."  
  
She chuckled and gently hit him with her purse. "You've _always_ been able to do that! Try something more difficult."  
  
Ralph grinned and slunk onto the floor. He pulled off his shoes and pulled his legs over his arms, tucking his feet behind his head. "Well, I can do this a bit more easily."  
  
"Nice view," chuckled Sue.  
  
"Hey, Ralphie, what are you doing?" called Ken's voice as he walked in. "Showing off for your lady?"  
  
Ralph quickly unfolded himself and got up. "Hey, Ken."  
  
Ken hugged him tight. "Hey, sorry I couldn't make it back sooner, didn't hear you were back until today. You okay?"  
  
"I'm still alive."  
  
"That's a plus."  
  
Sue watched curiously as Ken let go.  
  
"Can you... hug him again?" she asked.  
  
The two brothers looked at her curiously.  
  
"Don't tell me that—" Ken began.  
  
"Just do it, please!"  
  
Ken hugged Ralph again.  
  
"Okay... Now look at Ralph."  
  
Ken looked down. Ralph's body had "squeezed" under his grip.  
  
"That's weird..." he said. He let go and he and Ralph watched as Ralph's body resumed its normal form.  
  
Ralph looked at his arm and reached across the room to a vase near a window. His arm stretched out of his sleeve as he grabbed the vase. He then retracted his arm and looked at his arm.  
  
"Dude," Ken said quietly. "What. The. Hell?"  
  


———  


Cisco Ramon put his feet up on his desk as he leaned back in his chair with his head in his hands. "So, you're saying the particle accelerator explosion made you go from being double jointed to being hyper flexible, but when you drink that stuff, you have full on elasticity?"

"Yeah," Ralph replied, "that's about the size of it."

"I've seen a few metahumans," Cisco went on, "but you're the first one with a trigger like that. Guess it's lucky. You can choose when you want to turn your powers on."

"Isn't it awesome?" Sue added, grinning. "My boyfriend is a superhero!"

"Yeah, pretty cool," Cisco commented. "He needs a name."

"I had an idea," Ralph said, but Cisco cut him off.

"Plastic Man!" he said.

Sue shook her head.

"Okay, let me spitball a few ideas at you. Stop me when you hear the one. Robbie the Rubber Man!"

"My name's not Robbie."

"Superstretch! Elastic Lad! Mister Fantastic! Ductile Dude! Pliable Pal!"

"The Elongated Man!" Ralph said.

"... What?" asked Cisco. "That's an awful name. Like a backup feature in a comic book."

"It's a bit unusual," Sue admitted. "Why that one?"

"It'll get people asking questions, get them talking."

"It's better than the Streak," shrugged Cisco.

A door opened and a lanky young man with dark hair entered.

"Oh, hey, Barry, check this out!" Cisco called. "I want you to meet Ralph Dibny, the Elongated Man!"

"World-famous Elongated Man."

"But... only a few people know who you are," Sue said.

"Give it time."

———

"MARK!" yelled Barry as he zoomed past whirlwinds shooting out of Weather Wizard's hands. "STOP THIS! NOW!"

Barry was nearly about to tackle Mark when a bolt of lightning hit him square in the chest.

"GAH!" he gasped and fell backwards on the ground.

Weather Wizard stepped forward and put his foot on Barry's chest.

"Give it up, Flash," he said between clenched teeth.

Barry panted. "All right, Ralph," he called, "go!"

"What?" asked Weather Wizard as an elastic arm wrapped itself around him and a hand grabbed his wand.

"Looks like you can't beat the long arm of the law!" chuckled Ralph as he revealed himself to Weather Wizard as the police and news crews flocked to the scene. He was wearing a solid purple spandex suit that covered his body except for his head. Skintight elbow-length gloves and boots of a different shade of purple completed the outfit.

Barry grinned as he got up as Weather Wizard was pulled off of him. "This one's on you, pal," he whispered to Ralph before he sped off.

Weather Wizard was shortly put into custody. A news reporter hurried to Ralph, followed by a cameraman.

"Sir, you've taken down Weather Wizard, who are you?" they asked.

Ralph's face beamed with a smile as he replied, "I'm Ralph Dibny, the Elongated Man."

Back in STAR Labs, Cisco caught the report on his monitor.

"I made a mask," he murmured. "He never wears the mask."

The report was soon simulcast in Waymore as well, where Ken happened to be watching with his girlfriend.

"Wait," she commented, "did he just say..."

"He did," Ken replied, smiling. "Good work, bro."


End file.
